Photographer Greg Gorman collaborated with the company to create a black-and-white photo book featuring celebs such as Laura Dern and Pierce Brosnan, alongside Andy Warhol, Iggy Pop and other legendary names.

January 20, 2012

by

Lindsay Flans

The latest must-have for the style savvy is the hardcopy edition of Framed: Greg Gorman for l.a. Eyeworks. The book consists of a lavish history of famed photographer Greg Gorman’s work for the brand with an extensive list of the celebrities and lesser-known avant-garde subjects who have defined l.a.Eyeworks ad campaigns from 1982 to the present.

“I was approached get all of these stylish people to shoot an eyewear ad, and get these major players to do this basically for free. The [company] gave me total creative license over the campaign and allowed for open mindedness to shoot such a wide variety of actors, musicians, and even drag queens. Not all of the subjects fall into a standard or a norm,” says Gorman of photographing over 150 faces for the ads. Framed is his ninth book of images, and Gorman is still modest about his take on shooting legends. “You can be shooting an iconic person, but don’t know you are shooting an iconic picture,” he says.

The black-and-white photo book features images that celebrate the face and doesn’t discriminate breeds of fame: celebrities such as Sharon Stone, John Waters, Iman, Pierce Brosnan and Frank Zappa (among 171 subjects) are bound in the same edition as socialite Patricia Hearst and cabaret singer John Sex. The eyewear varies from reading glasses on Laura Dern, striped frames on Paul Reubens (aka Pee Wee Herman), dark, round shades on James Woods, among many other styles.

“We have been guided less by celebrity and more by the exotic, the outrageous, the re-invented, the overlooked, the idiosyncratic, the colorful, the uncensored, and the rule breaking.”

The portraits give the reader a look at three decades of glamour, culture and fashion, incorporating the eyewear designs co-owners Barbara McReynolds and Gai Gherardi for l.a. Eyeworks.

“From the very beginning I could see that Greg had his studio vibrating with energy. Seeing a person walk into his studio and be transformed in front of the camera, the lights just went on,” says Gherardi of knowing Gorman was the right man for the job. “It was a synergistic miracle.”

Framed--published by Grafiche Damiani in Italy--is available for $50 at l.a. Eyeworks online and their retail locations in Los Angeles.